ASO to perform Handel this weekend at Holy Rosary

Thursday

Dec 12, 2013 at 3:00 PM

By Arlene BachanovDaily Telegram Special Writer

Most of the time when people hear Handel’s “Messiah,” they hear it performed by a full orchestra and massive choral forces the size of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir — if not by the actual Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But what audiences will hear at this weekend's Adrian Symphony Orchestra concerts is something quite different.

“There were times when Handel did ‘Messiah’ with a huge cast of characters,’” said ASO Music Director John Thomas Dodson. “But the audiences of the time were used to smaller forces more often.”

Dodson had been thinking for some time about presenting “Messiah” in that smaller size that was more common in the time of Handel. And as it turns out, doing so in this weekend’s concert venue, Holy Rosary Chapel on the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ campus, makes for an ideal pairing of setting and music.

There will be three performances of the “Handel in Holy Rosary” concert: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13; 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15. The Sunday performance has been sold out.

Tickets are $29 for adults, $27 for senior citizens and $15 for students, and are available by calling the ASO at 264-3121, at the orchestra’s office east of Dawson Auditorium at Adrian College, online at www.adriansymphony.org, or at Holy Rosary Chapel beginning two hours before each concert.

Dodson will present a free talk about the music on the concert program in the chapel beginning an hour before each performance. Friday’s concert also includes a complimentary post-performance reception hosted by the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

The performances feature guest artist Michael Gartz, organist at Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo; for the Toledo Diocesan Choir at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral; and for the Canterbury Singers USA. Gartz will perform Handel’s Organ Concerto in G minor and Albinoni’s Adagio for Organ and Strings.

The latter piece, while it sounds very authentic to the 18th century, is actually “ersatz Baroque,” as Dodson termed it. It was published in 1958 by musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotti, who claimed he was working with a fragment of an Albinoni sonata. While that may or may not be true, the fact remains that the popular work sounds very much like something Albinoni himself would have written.The two works Gartz performs feature Holy Rosary Chapel’s historic Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, an instrument that “is a fine example of modern organ building, capable of doing justice to music from all historical period,” Gartz said in an email.“It offers certain mechanical devices unknown to Handel — combination action (allowing the organist to store registrations, activated by pushing buttons), and the ability to make the sound gradually softer and louder without changing stops. I will use this last function sparingly in the Handel, and more conspicuously in the Albinoni.”Because the Holy Rosary organ has a wide array of registers, close to what Handel himself would have used, “I’m confident our performances will sound authentic,” Gartz continued. “Although I had a fairly clear idea of the sounds I was after, it was invaluable having the opportunity to meet with John Dodson a few weeks ago, to get his feedback as I demonstrated various combinations. For the most part my approach is quite orthodox, but sometimes I break the rules to achieve the desired effect. Handel will probably forgive me!”As far as “Messiah” is concerned, this weekend’s audiences will hear the Christmas section of “Messiah” plus the Hallelujah Chorus. While that chorus actually comes later in the oratorio, in the section having to do with Christ’s Resurrection, “for a lot of people, hearing ‘Messiah’ without the Hallelujah Chorus would feel incomplete,” Dodson said. Besides, he added, “I think it’s all right to say ‘Hallelujah, Christ is born’ as much as it is to say ‘Hallelujah, Christ is risen.’ ”For the work, the ASO will be joined by the Adrian College Chamber Choir and four soloists: soprano Leann Schuering; mezzo-soprano Kristin Eder, who directs the choir; tenor Jesse Donner; and baritone Ben Sieverding.

Besides the fact that the work features smaller vocal and instrumental ensembles than are often heard performing it, the ASO is presenting an edition based on more recent scholarship. This research has shown that, among other things, Handel intended tempi to be faster than audience members may be familiar with.

“Dance was the driver of the tempi,” said Dodson, who even asked the choir to do some dancing as they rehearsed so the singers could get the concept. “And if you can do it, it has an excitement and a characteristic sound that really feels authentic.”

Using the smaller forces more typical of what Handel wanted allows for that faster pace to come through and not sound muddled. At the same time, not having a “cast of thousands” for the work is perfect for the space in which it’s being played. Holy Rosary Chapel has a longer “ring time” than the usual concert venue, which means that a smaller ensemble actually sounds just right there.